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  <section id="find-path">
<span id="command:find_path"></span><h1>find_path<a class="headerlink" href="#find-path" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>A short-hand signature is:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">find_path (&lt;VAR&gt; name1 [path1 path2 ...])</pre>
<p>The general signature is:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">find_path (
          &lt;VAR&gt;
          name | NAMES name1 [name2 ...]
          [HINTS [path | ENV var]...]
          [PATHS [path | ENV var]...]
          [REGISTRY_VIEW (64|32|64_32|32_64|HOST|TARGET|BOTH)]
          [PATH_SUFFIXES suffix1 [suffix2 ...]]
          [VALIDATOR function]
          [DOC &quot;cache documentation string&quot;]
          [NO_CACHE]
          [REQUIRED|OPTIONAL]
          [NO_DEFAULT_PATH]
          [NO_PACKAGE_ROOT_PATH]
          [NO_CMAKE_PATH]
          [NO_CMAKE_ENVIRONMENT_PATH]
          [NO_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH]
          [NO_CMAKE_SYSTEM_PATH]
          [NO_CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX]
          [CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_BOTH |
           ONLY_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH |
           NO_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH]
         )</pre>
<p>This command is used to find a directory containing the named file.
A cache entry, or a normal variable if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_CACHE</span></code> is specified,
named by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;VAR&gt;</span></code> is created to store the result of this command.
If the file in a directory is found the result is stored in the variable
and the search will not be repeated unless the variable is cleared.
If nothing is found, the result will be <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;VAR&gt;-NOTFOUND</span></code>.</p>
<p>Options include:</p>
<dl>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NAMES</span></code></dt><dd><p>Specify one or more possible names for the file in a directory.</p>
<p>When using this to specify names with and without a version
suffix, we recommend specifying the unversioned name first
so that locally-built packages can be found before those
provided by distributions.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">HINTS</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PATHS</span></code></dt><dd><p>Specify directories to search in addition to the default locations.
The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ENV</span> <span class="pre">var</span></code> sub-option reads paths from a system environment
variable.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.24: </span>On <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Windows</span></code> platform, it is possible to include registry queries as part
of the directories, using a <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-developer.7.html#find-using-windows-registry"><span class="std std-ref">dedicated syntax</span></a>.
Such specifications will be ignored on all other platforms.</p>
</div>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">REGISTRY_VIEW</span></code></dt><dd><div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.24.</span></p>
</div>
<p>Specify which registry views must be queried. This option is only meaningful
on <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Windows</span></code> platforms and will be ignored on other ones. When not
specified, the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TARGET</span></code> view is used when the
<span class="target" id="index-0-policy:CMP0134"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0134.html#policy:CMP0134" title="CMP0134"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0134</span></code></a> policy is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NEW</span></code>. Refer to <span class="target" id="index-1-policy:CMP0134"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0134.html#policy:CMP0134" title="CMP0134"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0134</span></code></a> for the
default view when the policy is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">OLD</span></code>.</p>
<dl>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64</span></code></dt><dd><p>Query the 64-bit registry. On 32-bit Windows, it always returns the string
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/REGISTRY-NOTFOUND</span></code>.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32</span></code></dt><dd><p>Query the 32-bit registry.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64_32</span></code></dt><dd><p>Query both views (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32</span></code>) and generate a path for each.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32_64</span></code></dt><dd><p>Query both views (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64</span></code>) and generate a path for each.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">HOST</span></code></dt><dd><p>Query the registry matching the architecture of the host: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64</span></code> on 64-bit
Windows and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32</span></code> on 32-bit Windows.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TARGET</span></code></dt><dd><p>Query the registry matching the architecture specified by the
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P.html#variable:CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P" title="CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P</span></code></a> variable. If not defined, fall back to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">HOST</span></code> view.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">BOTH</span></code></dt><dd><p>Query both views (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64</span></code>). The order depends on the following
rules: If the <span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P.html#variable:CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P" title="CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P</span></code></a> variable is defined, use the
following view depending on the content of this variable:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">8</span></code>: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64_32</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">4</span></code>: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32_64</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<p>If the <span class="target" id="index-2-variable:CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P.html#variable:CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P" title="CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P</span></code></a> variable is not defined, rely on the
architecture of the host:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>64-bit: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">64_32</span></code></p></li>
<li><p>32-bit: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">32</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PATH_SUFFIXES</span></code></dt><dd><p>Specify additional subdirectories to check below each directory
location otherwise considered.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">VALIDATOR</span></code></dt><dd><div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.25.</span></p>
</div>
<p>Specify a <span class="target" id="index-0-command:function"></span><a class="reference internal" href="function.html#command:function" title="function"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">function()</span></code></a> to be called for each candidate item found
(a <span class="target" id="index-0-command:macro"></span><a class="reference internal" href="macro.html#command:macro" title="macro"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">macro()</span></code></a> cannot be provided, that will result in an error).
Two arguments will be passed to the validator function: the name of a
result variable, and the absolute path to the candidate item.  The item
will be accepted and the search will end unless the function sets the
value in the result variable to false in the calling scope.  The result
variable will hold a true value when the validator function is entered.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">function(my_check validator_result_var item)
  if(NOT item MATCHES ...)
    set(${validator_result_var} FALSE PARENT_SCOPE)
  endif()
endfunction()

find_path (result NAMES ... VALIDATOR my_check)</pre>
<p>Note that if a cached result is used, the search is skipped and any
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">VALIDATOR</span></code> is ignored.  The cached result is not required to pass the
validation function.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DOC</span></code></dt><dd><p>Specify the documentation string for the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;VAR&gt;</span></code> cache entry.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_CACHE</span></code></dt><dd><div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.21.</span></p>
</div>
<p>The result of the search will be stored in a normal variable rather than
a cache entry.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>If the variable is already set before the call (as a normal or cache
variable) then the search will not occur.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p>This option should be used with caution because it can greatly increase
the cost of repeated configure steps.</p>
</div>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">REQUIRED</span></code></dt><dd><div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.18.</span></p>
</div>
<p>Stop processing with an error message if nothing is found, otherwise
the search will be attempted again the next time find_path is invoked
with the same variable.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 4.1: </span>Every find_path command will be treated as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">REQUIRED</span></code> when the
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED" title="CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED</span></code></a> variable is enabled.</p>
</div>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">OPTIONAL</span></code></dt><dd><div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 4.1.</span></p>
</div>
<p>Ignore the value of <span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED" title="CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_REQUIRED</span></code></a> and
continue without an error message if nothing is found.
Incompatible with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">REQUIRED</span></code>.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_DEFAULT_PATH</span></code> is specified, then no additional paths are
added to the search.
If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_DEFAULT_PATH</span></code> is not specified, the search process is as follows:</p>
<ol class="arabic">
<li><p>If called from within a find module or any other script loaded by a call to
<span class="target" id="index-2-command:find_package"></span><a class="reference internal" href="find_package.html#command:find_package" title="find_package(&lt;packagename&gt;)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">find_package(&lt;PackageName&gt;)</span></code></a>, search prefixes unique to the
current package being found.  See policy <span class="target" id="index-0-policy:CMP0074"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0074.html#policy:CMP0074" title="CMP0074"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0074</span></code></a>.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.12.</span></p>
</div>
<p>Specifically, search paths specified by the following variables, in order:</p>
<ol class="loweralpha">
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-2-variable:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/PackageName_ROOT.html#variable:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT" title="&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT</span></code></a> CMake variable,
where <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;</span></code> is the case-preserved package name.</p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-variable:&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/PackageName_ROOT.html#variable:&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT" title="&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT</span></code></a> CMake variable,
where <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;</span></code> is the upper-cased package name.
See policy <span class="target" id="index-0-policy:CMP0144"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0144.html#policy:CMP0144" title="CMP0144"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0144</span></code></a>.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.27.</span></p>
</div>
</li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-2-envvar:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../envvar/PackageName_ROOT.html#envvar:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT" title="&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT</span></code></a> environment variable,
where <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;</span></code> is the case-preserved package name.</p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-envvar:&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../envvar/PackageName_ROOT.html#envvar:&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT" title="&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;_ROOT</span></code></a> environment variable,
where <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PACKAGENAME&gt;</span></code> is the upper-cased package name.
See policy <span class="target" id="index-1-policy:CMP0144"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0144.html#policy:CMP0144" title="CMP0144"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0144</span></code></a>.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.27.</span></p>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
<p>The package root variables are maintained as a stack, so if called from
nested find modules or config packages, root paths from the parent's find
module or config package will be searched after paths from the current
module or package.  In other words, the search order would be
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;CurrentPackage&gt;_ROOT</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ENV{&lt;CurrentPackage&gt;_ROOT}</span></code>,
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;ParentPackage&gt;_ROOT</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ENV{&lt;ParentPackage&gt;_ROOT}</span></code>, etc.
This can be skipped if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_PACKAGE_ROOT_PATH</span></code> is passed or by setting
the <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_PACKAGE_ROOT_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_USE_PACKAGE_ROOT_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_PACKAGE_ROOT_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_USE_PACKAGE_ROOT_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_USE_PACKAGE_ROOT_PATH</span></code></a> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FALSE</span></code>.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include/&lt;arch&gt;</span></code> if <span class="target" id="index-5-variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.html#variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE" title="CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE</span></code></a>
is set, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include</span></code> for each <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;</span></code> in the
<span class="target" id="index-3-variable:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/PackageName_ROOT.html#variable:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT" title="&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT</span></code></a> CMake variable and the
<span class="target" id="index-3-envvar:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../envvar/PackageName_ROOT.html#envvar:&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT" title="&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;_ROOT</span></code></a> environment variable if
called from within a find module loaded by
<span class="target" id="index-3-command:find_package"></span><a class="reference internal" href="find_package.html#command:find_package" title="find_package(&lt;packagename&gt;)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">find_package(&lt;PackageName&gt;)</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p>Search paths specified in cmake-specific cache variables.
These are intended to be used on the command line with a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-DVAR=value</span></code>.
The values are interpreted as <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-language.7.html#cmake-language-lists"><span class="std std-ref">semicolon-separated lists</span></a>.
This can be skipped if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_CMAKE_PATH</span></code> is passed or by setting the
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_PATH</span></code></a> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FALSE</span></code>.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include/&lt;arch&gt;</span></code> if <span class="target" id="index-6-variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.html#variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE" title="CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE</span></code></a>
is set, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include</span></code> for each <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;</span></code> in <span class="target" id="index-2-variable:CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH" title="CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH" title="CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH" title="CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p>Search paths specified in cmake-specific environment variables.
These are intended to be set in the user's shell configuration,
and therefore use the host's native path separator
(<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">;</span></code> on Windows and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">:</span></code> on UNIX).
This can be skipped if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_CMAKE_ENVIRONMENT_PATH</span></code> is passed or
by setting the <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_ENVIRONMENT_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_ENVIRONMENT_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_ENVIRONMENT_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_ENVIRONMENT_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_ENVIRONMENT_PATH</span></code></a> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FALSE</span></code>.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include/&lt;arch&gt;</span></code> if <span class="target" id="index-7-variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.html#variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE" title="CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE</span></code></a> is set,
and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include</span></code> for each <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;</span></code> in <span class="target" id="index-2-envvar:CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../envvar/CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH.html#envvar:CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH" title="CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-1-envvar:CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../envvar/CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH.html#envvar:CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH" title="CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-1-envvar:CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../envvar/CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH.html#envvar:CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH" title="CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p>Search the paths specified by the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">HINTS</span></code> option.
These should be paths computed by system introspection, such as a
hint provided by the location of another item already found.
Hard-coded guesses should be specified with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PATHS</span></code> option.</p></li>
<li><p>Search the standard system environment variables.
This can be skipped if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH</span></code> is passed or by
setting the <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_USE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_USE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_USE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH</span></code></a> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FALSE</span></code>.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>The directories in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INCLUDE</span></code>
and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PATH</span></code>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>On Windows hosts, CMake 3.3 through 3.27 searched additional paths:
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include/&lt;arch&gt;</span></code> if <span class="target" id="index-8-variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.html#variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE" title="CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE</span></code></a>
is set, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include</span></code> for each <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/[s]bin</span></code> in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PATH</span></code>, and
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;entry&gt;/include</span></code> for other entries in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PATH</span></code>.
This behavior was removed by CMake 3.28.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Search cmake variables defined in the Platform files
for the current system.  The searching of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX</span></code> and
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX</span></code> can be
skipped if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX</span></code> is passed or by setting the
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_INSTALL_PREFIX"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_USE_INSTALL_PREFIX.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_INSTALL_PREFIX" title="CMAKE_FIND_USE_INSTALL_PREFIX"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_USE_INSTALL_PREFIX</span></code></a> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FALSE</span></code>. All these locations
can be skipped if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_CMAKE_SYSTEM_PATH</span></code> is passed or by setting the
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_SYSTEM_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_SYSTEM_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_SYSTEM_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_SYSTEM_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_USE_CMAKE_SYSTEM_PATH</span></code></a> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FALSE</span></code>.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include/&lt;arch&gt;</span></code> if <span class="target" id="index-9-variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.html#variable:CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE" title="CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE</span></code></a>
is set, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;/include</span></code> for each <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;prefix&gt;</span></code> in
<span class="target" id="index-2-variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_PREFIX_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSTEM_PREFIX_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_PREFIX_PATH" title="CMAKE_SYSTEM_PREFIX_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSTEM_PREFIX_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_PATH" title="CMAKE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_FRAMEWORK_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSTEM_FRAMEWORK_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_FRAMEWORK_PATH" title="CMAKE_SYSTEM_FRAMEWORK_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSTEM_FRAMEWORK_PATH</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>The platform paths that these variables contain are locations that
typically include installed software. An example being <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/usr/local</span></code> for
UNIX based platforms.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Search the paths specified by the PATHS option
or in the short-hand version of the command.
These are typically hard-coded guesses.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH" title="CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH</span></code></a>, <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH" title="CMAKE_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH</span></code></a>,
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PATH" title="CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PATH</span></code></a> and
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH" title="CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH</span></code></a> variables can also cause some
of the above locations to be ignored.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.16: </span>Added <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_USE_&lt;CATEGORY&gt;_PATH</span></code> variables to globally disable
various search locations.</p>
</div>
<p>On macOS the <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_FRAMEWORK"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_FRAMEWORK.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_FRAMEWORK" title="CMAKE_FIND_FRAMEWORK"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_FRAMEWORK</span></code></a> and
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_APPBUNDLE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_APPBUNDLE.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_APPBUNDLE" title="CMAKE_FIND_APPBUNDLE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_APPBUNDLE</span></code></a> variables determine the order of
preference between Apple-style and unix-style package components.</p>
<p>The CMake variable <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH</span></code></a> specifies one or more
directories to be prepended to all other search directories.  This
effectively &quot;re-roots&quot; the entire search under given locations.
Paths which are descendants of the <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX.html#variable:CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX" title="CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX</span></code></a> are excluded
from this re-rooting, because that variable is always a path on the host system.
By default the <span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH</span></code></a> is empty.</p>
<p>The <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_SYSROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSROOT.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSROOT" title="CMAKE_SYSROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSROOT</span></code></a> variable can also be used to specify exactly one
directory to use as a prefix.  Setting <span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_SYSROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSROOT.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSROOT" title="CMAKE_SYSROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSROOT</span></code></a> also has other
effects.  See the documentation for that variable for more.</p>
<p>These variables are especially useful when cross-compiling to
point to the root directory of the target environment and CMake will
search there too.  By default at first the directories listed in
<span class="target" id="index-2-variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH</span></code></a> are searched, then the <span class="target" id="index-2-variable:CMAKE_SYSROOT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_SYSROOT.html#variable:CMAKE_SYSROOT" title="CMAKE_SYSROOT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_SYSROOT</span></code></a>
directory is searched, and then the non-rooted directories will be
searched.  The default behavior can be adjusted by setting
<span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_INCLUDE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_INCLUDE.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_INCLUDE" title="CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_INCLUDE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_INCLUDE</span></code></a>.  This behavior can be manually
overridden on a per-call basis using options:</p>
<dl class="simple">
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_BOTH</span></code></dt><dd><p>Search in the order described above.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH</span></code></dt><dd><p>Do not use the <span class="target" id="index-3-variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH.html#variable:CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH" title="CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH</span></code></a> variable.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ONLY_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH</span></code></dt><dd><p>Search only the re-rooted directories and directories below
<span class="target" id="index-1-variable:CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX.html#variable:CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX" title="CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_STAGING_PREFIX</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>The default search order is designed to be most-specific to
least-specific for common use cases.
Projects may override the order by simply calling the command
multiple times and using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NO_*</span></code> options:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">find_path (&lt;VAR&gt; NAMES name PATHS paths... NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
find_path (&lt;VAR&gt; NAMES name)</pre>
<p>Once one of the calls succeeds the result variable will be set
and stored in the cache so that no call will search again.</p>
<p>When searching for frameworks, if the file is specified as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">A/b.h</span></code>, then
the framework search will look for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">A.framework/Headers/b.h</span></code>.  If that
is found the path will be set to the path to the framework.  CMake
will convert this to the correct <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-F</span></code> option to include the file.</p>
</section>


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